The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is seen here at center left, following its installation on the S3 Truss on the International Space Station by the crew of the STS-134 space shuttle mission in 2011. The orbiting particle detector has been continuously collecting data ever since, on high-energy cosmic rays. Image Credit: NASA

The Kelly brothers – Scott and Mark (left to right) – pose together in May 2008. In 2015, both will be test subjects aiding researchers in the study of spaceflight’s effects on the human body. Photo Credit: NASA

Identical twins Mark and Scott Kelly share more than just genetics – at one time, they […]

Gregory H. Johnson, a veteran of two space shuttle missions, has left NASA for pastures new. Photo Credit: NASA

Almost half a century ago, a grainy television picture of a man bouncing around on the airless surface of the Moon convinced a 7-year-old boy to someday become an astronaut. Gregory Harold Johnson was in […]

Our latest view of the Universe and its history obtained by the ESA Planck space probe. Image Credit: ESA/Planck Collaboration/PA.

Recent findings from the European Space Agency’s Planck spacecraft have provided some minor revisions to the currently accepted parameters of the universe. As well as it now being 13.8 billion years old, the distribution […]

The principal investigator on the AMS-2 experiment on the International Space Station has suggested that the first findings from the AMS-2 suggest that dark matter could be a reality. Photo Credit: NASA

NASA held a news conference to detail the first findings of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 2 (AMS-2) that was delivered to the […]

In the wake of the recent mass shootings in the U.S., there has been renewed, and intense, debate about gun control. And now, former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark […]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla — David Reed is a soft-spoken man with a passion for science. This much became obvious while AmericaSpace spoke with him at the Space Life Sciences Lab (SLSL) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center—where Reed is the payload engineering lead for the Engineering Services Contract […]

Jared Lee Loughner, the man who killed six people in cold blood and tried to assassinate former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was given seven consecutive life prison sentences without parole at a hearing last Thursday in Tucson, […]

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Pushing the Boundaries of Propelling Deep Space Missions

Engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center are advancing the propulsion system that will propel the first ever mission to redirect an asteroid for astronauts to explore in the 2020s. NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission will test a number of new capabilities, like advanced Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP), needed for future astronaut expeditions into deep space, including to Mars.
The Hall thruster is part of an SEP system that uses 10 times less propellant than equivalent chemical rockets. In a recent test, engineers from Glenn and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, using a Glenn vacuum chamber to simulate the space environment, successfully tested a new, higher power Hall thruster design, which is more efficient and has longer life. “We proved that this thruster can process three times the power of previous designs and increase efficiency by 50 percent,” said Dan Herman, Electric Propulsion Subsystem lead.
Hall thrusters trap electrons in a magnetic field and use them to ionize the onboard propellant. The magnetic field also generates an electric field that accelerates the charged ions creating an exhaust plume of plasma that pushes the spacecraft forward. This method delivers cost-effective, safe and highly efficient in-space propulsion for long duration missions. In addition to propelling an asteroid mission, this new thruster could be used to send large amounts of cargo, habitats and other architectures in support of human missions to Mars.
Image Credit: NASA
Michelle M. Murphy (Wyle Information Systems, LLC) Read More